CAIRO – 18 April 2024: Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation and Governor at the World Bank Group, Rania Al-Mashat, recently participated in the conference "Rethinking Economic Policy: Steering Structural Change." The event, organized by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), provided a platform for experts and policymakers to discuss the significance of structural reforms in achieving macroeconomic stability and resilience.
During her presentation, Minister Al-Mashat highlighted the distinction between short-term economic stability policies and long-term structural reforms. While stability policies address immediate imbalances, structural reforms serve as a foundation for sustained economic strength, reducing vulnerability to external shocks and mitigating imbalances.
Al-Mashat emphasized the urgency of implementing structural changes and economic policy reforms, particularly for developing countries and emerging economies. She stressed that these reforms, coupled with macroeconomic stability measures, work in harmony to drive growth and foster stability in a world facing successive and interrelated crises.
The Minister underscored the challenges faced by developing nations in sustaining structural reforms due to external shocks, which often exacerbate the gap between developed and developing economies. To counter this, Al-Mashat highlighted the pivotal role of industrial policies in supporting economic competitiveness. However, she also noted that the success of such policies requires complementary financial measures to facilitate the desired outcomes and facilitate the transition to a green and digital economy.
Minister Al-Mashat further emphasized the increasing need for developing and emerging economies to accelerate structural reforms. She highlighted the significance of industrial policies in driving investment in sustainable and clean infrastructure, stimulating job creation, fostering innovation, and facilitating the transition to more urbanized economies.
In line with global calls for a green transition in global trade and sustainable value chain creation, Al-Mashat stressed the importance of enhanced investment in clean technologies to maintain Egypt's economic competitiveness.
Egypt has set ambitious targets to promote sustainable development. The government plans to raise the percentage of green projects in public investments to 50 percent during the fiscal year 2024/2025. Additionally, in collaboration with the World Bank Group, one of Egypt's key development partners, the government has initiated the development of a new industry strategy to drive economic growth led by the private sector.
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